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Mike Conway takes the checkered flag after winning the second race of the Sunday IndyCar doubleheader in Toronto. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Road-course specialist wins second street race of season for Ed Carpenter Racing

IndyCar’s road-racing ace won another such race Sunday. Mike Conway, the British driver hired by Ed Carpenter Racing to conquer these type of tracks, did just that at Exhibition Place in the second half of the same-day Honda Indy Toronto doubleheader.

Conway also won the April street race in Long Beach, Calif., giving the small Indianapolis-based team three wins so far this season. Team owner/driver Ed Carpenter won the oval race at Texas Motor Speedway last month.

Conway got to the lead Sunday because his crew brought him to pit road first for dry-condition tires as the wet track dried. Tony Kanaan tried to catch Conway, but he gave up and finished 3.54 seconds behind at the finish.

The win was the fourth of Conway’s career.

“It feels really good,” he said. “It was really difficult conditions in the wet. As soon as I saw the track drying I knew it was time to come in.”

The crew called him in.

“It was a great call,” Conway said.

Among championship contenders, Will Power gained on Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves by finishing third to the Brazilian’s 12th. Castroneves leads by 13 points heading to the season’s final four races.

Sunday’s second race started with drivers positioned based on entrant points entering the weekend, which meant Castroneves and Power started on the front row with first-race winner Sebastien Bourdais in 10th.

The standing start went off mostly without a hitch. Justin Wilson’s car didn’t start from the 15th spot. When the field got to turn three, Kanaan got pushed wide when alongside Carlos Munoz. The caution was short, but the skies were darkening.

Simon Pagenaud incurred heartbreak on lap six when his engine cut out. He spent the next lap trying to work magic from the cockpit, but nothing work. That’s a big hit to his title chances, too.

Sprinkles started on lap 12, and the next lap was worse. Juan Pablo Montoya missed the corner in turn eight nosing headfirst into the tire barrier. James Hinchcliffe’s car spun behind Montoya, hitting the tires farther through the corner. Rookie Mikhail Aleshin couldn’t avoid hitting Montoya, and Montoya’s car landed on top of Aleshin’s cockpit.

“That was not a good feeling,” Aleshin said with tire marks on the front of his helmet. “I couldn’t breathe at all; the car was very hot.”

With the rain coming harder, Josef Newgarden and Bourdais tried to stay on slick tires, but that didn’t work. Newgarden spun at turn eight.

It wasn’t over for Newgarden. Along with Justin Wilson, he stayed out on the track with rain tires with about 10 minutes left. But they couldn’t hold back Kanaan, and they couldn’t catch Conway.

Rain was a factor all weekend for the IndyCar Series drivers in Toronto. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC